Until you have real experiences in the field that you are exploring, you will have a difficult time knowing if that career is for you. Consider participating in one or more opportunities to gain experience. Your advisor or career consultant can help you identify resources that will help you find meaningful experiences on campus and in the community. Read about our students' success through their stories below.
Odds were against Chris Brown, a nursing major, when he decided to give college a third shot at IUPUI in 2015. Chris originally started as a computer science major at Indiana University in 2000. He found himself to not be successful at IU, saying that he “wasn’t in the right mind-set.” Years later, in 2006, he decided to give college another shot at IUPUI. Again, he found himself struggling and giving up.
With a love for math and science and an interest in carpentry, Lenell Campbell chose to major in construction engineering management technology when he first came to college. He thought he was set in his decision, but during his third semester, his feelings for the program began to change.
Edith Alanis moved to the United States from Mexico when she was seven years old. Her mother graduated from the equivalent of high school in Mexico, but she was not allowed to further her education beyond high school. Edith’s father joined the workforce after only a third grade education. Edith and her twin sister went through the U.S. school system, starting in the first grade. Because their parents were unfamiliar with the system here, they had to figure things out as they went, relying on the help from advisors and counselors.
Alayna Hutchinson first encountered the Health & Life Sciences Advising Center early in her career at IUPUI, where she started out as a Pre-Nursing Major. She said that she “always loved science and helping people, so [she] had always considered healthcare.” Alayna did eventually apply to the IU School of Nursing but was unsuccessful in her first attempt. It was then that she turned to HLS for help. Alayna met with both a student success advisor and a career consultant to go over her different options, which included reapplying to nursing school and considering a parallel plan.
Kevin Kimemia wakes up with excitement, knowing that what he will learn today is something that he is interested in and he will use every day in his nursing career. He feels driven to learn more and understand all that he is doing now, because his future patients will depend on him. Kevin is happy because he’s doing what he wants to do and “feel[s] like he has a true purpose now.” But, it wasn’t always so easy for Kevin to get to this point, and he took a non-traditional path to nursing school.
Just like many others, Mackenzie’s path to IUPUI and to finding her major was a rocky one. After starting her college career at Indiana University East, taking classes at Ivy Tech, and transferring to Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne, she finally found her way to IUPUI in the fall of 2015. Mackenzie says she “was all over the place” switching from Nursing to Biology to Dental Hygiene to EMT, thinking she had no clue what she wanted to do in life.
When Rachel Palfi started at IUPUI, she was a pre-radiation therapy major. She had job shadowed a radiation therapist and really felt that the career was something she could see herself doing. Once she decided her major, Rachel says, “I gave it my all my first time around with radiation therapy,” despite being warned at the very beginning how difficult it would be.
At 15 years old, Claire Shriner underwent surgery after tearing her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). It was her first time in a hospital. She chatted with the nurses, surgeons, and the anesthesiologist and left the hospital eager to learn more about the health care field.
Lynn Wallace, a junior majoring in nuclear medicine, came to IUPUI to become a radiation therapist. After completing the prerequisites and applying to the radiation therapy program, she was not admitted. Learn how Lynn entered her degree-granting school.
Ellen Webb enrolled at IUPUI as a pre-nursing major because she knew completing that degree could mean a long and stable career. It was never necessarily a career she was excited about or even felt was a good fit for her, but she figured it was her only option. Her background had led her to believe that she just needed a degree in something “practical,” not necessarily a degree in something of interest. While a nursing career is a great option for those who truly want to be a nurse, it wasn’t what Ellen wanted, and therefore, her grades suffered.
